Safety razor and magazine



Aug. 28, 1951' TEST] 2,566,043

SAFETY RAZOR AND MAGAZINE Filed July 14, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W/CM e,

Aug. 28, 1951 N. TESTI SAFETY RA-ZOR AND MAGAZINE Filed July 1945 vs V V scribed causes the two blade-clamping members Patented Aug. '28, 1951 SAFETY RAZOR AND MAGAZINE Nicholas Testi, Boston, Mass.,assig-nor .to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass., .a coriporation of'Delaware Application July 14, 1945, Serial No. 1605,1251

13 Claims. 1

This invention consists in an improved magazine for safety razor blades and in a novel combination of magazine and safety razor. In one aspect, the invention comprises a magazine adapted to supply fresh sharp blades one by one to a safety razor of the type in which the cap is arranged to be displaced longitudinally for uncovering the blade seat; and in another aspect it comprises the combination of such a safety razor with a magazine constructed and arranged to displace the cap of the razor and at the same time to deposit a fresh blade upon the blade seat thus uncovered.

For purposes of illustration I have herein shown a magazine designed specifically to cooperate with the safety razor of my co-pending application, Serial No. 599,598, filed June 15, 1945, now Patent No. 2,463,442, granted March 1, 1949, although the invention is not limited to that or to any specific safety razor'but with appropriate modification may be arranged for cooperation with other safety razors of that general type.

The razor herein shown is provided between its blade-clamping members with connecting elements which are disposed at a longitudinal inclination to the blade-engaging faces of the two members. More particularly, the bladesupportingor guard member may be provided with a bore or passage which is longitudinally inclined with respect to the blade-engaging face of that member while the other blade-clamping or cap member is provided with a correspondingly inclined rod projecting from it and freely slideable in the bore. Spring means are also'provided tending at-all times to move the two bladeclamping members toward their registered superposed position and into clamping relation with each other. The inclined connection above deto recede .from each other, or separate, as one is moved longitudinally with respect to the other to uncover the blade seat and, conversely, to approach each other as the two members are moved by the spring with or without the assistance of the user toward their superposed bladeclamping position.

The magazine of my invention comprises walls forming a rectangular enclosure with a bladeexit .slot at one end. The body of the magazine is designed to hold a stack of blades alternating with spacers which give to the blades of the stack an exaggerated spacing and normally cover the lowermost blade "of the stack and thus facilitate the blade-supplying function 'of the magazinew (Jo-operating guiding means are provided upon the blade-supporting member of the razor and the magazine such that, when the cap of the razor .is displaced by the magazine, the magazine itself is guided into the proper position to deposit a fresh blade upon the blade seat. In its capdisplacing movement, the magazine is designed to eject the lowermost spacer therein, to uncover the blade located nextabove it and br-ingthe blade into proper position for-delivery. Accordingly, when the magazine is withdrawn after it has deposited a fresh blade, the next spacer in the stack is uncovered and the blade above it thus maintained inta position where it will not be disturbed in the retracting movement of the magazine.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective on an enlarged scale showing the .head ofasafety razor with the magazine in blade-delivery relation;

Fig. 2 is a view in longitudinal section of the razor headon the line 2-2 of Fig.5;

3 and tare views'i-n longitudinal section showing the razor head with the magazine in two different positions thereon;

Fig. 5 is a view in cross section on the line 55 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the magazine, a blade, anda spacer, in exploded relation.

The safety razorwill be described only briefly herein since itis more fully illustrated and described in my co-pending application above identified.

The handle i0 is threaded to receive a boss 'H merging into a flat-elongated bottom plate T2 and forming part of the blade-supporting guard member of the razor. At its opposite longitudinal edges the bottom plate merges upwardly into diverging sidewalls l3 and I4, and these in turn merge into a top plate l5 "supplying the blade seat of the razor. The top plate is extended transversely in the form of guard bars l8 and provided with an upstanding rib I! undercut to form a hook at its rear end and flattened throughout the intermediate portion 01 its length. The top plate is. upwardly convex in its general contour, as shown in Fig. 5. An'anchor pin It! extends across the space between the top and bottom plates near the front end of the uard member; and to this is attached one end of a tension spring IS. The side walls 13 and 14 'nection of the parts.

the latter is clamped in the razor. The inner face of the cap is longitudinally slotted to receive the rib H on the blade seat.

24 and 25. These carry at their-lower ends parallel rods 28 and 29, threaded at their forward ends and sloping forwardly or downwardly at an angle corresponding to the angle of thebores and 2|. The bores and rods constitute con.- necting elements between the cap and guard members and are disposed at a longitudinal angle toj the blade-engaging faces thereof. This 'construction'permits the oapto bedisplaced endwise completely to uncover the blade "seat and still hold the cap against twisting or transverse misalignment. 5

T Between the arms am 26, the cap carries a loop 21 to which the rear end of the tension spring "is connected The spring, therefore, always tends to pull the cap-forwardly. The, cap is meanwhile guided downwardly toward the blade seat and towards, position of longitudinal registration with the guard member. Tubular nuts 33 are threadedbn theforwardends of the rods 23 and Hand thus serve as limiting stops co-operating with shoulders 2|! and at the rear ends of the bores to prevent disengagement of the rods "23 and 29 from thebores and discon- I The arms 25 and 25 act as positive stops for limiting the forward movement of I the cap and determining the proper shaving relation of the cap and guard.

' "The razor is designed to employ a thin flexible blade of the character shown in Fig. 6. that is to say, a double-edged blade 35 notched at all four corners to provide shouldered elongated un- I sharpened end portions '35. The blade is also provided witha longitudinaYslot 31' and with longitudinal cutting edges which extend for substantially the full length of the slot.

Theb'lade magazine contains'a stack of blades 35 and spacers 52 of sheet material and operates to deliver the blades one' by one to'the razor. It comprises walls of sheet metal or plastic material forming an elongated rectangular enclosure. The magazine has an unbroken top 45,

downtvrned parallel side walls 4| and 42 and a partially open bottom formed by inturned flanges 43 and 44. These flanges terminat at these'inner longitudinal edges'in cylindrical rods forming projecting parallel ribs 46 and 41. These ribs '46 and 41 constitute the guiding elements of the magazine that co-operate with the guide grooves 33 and 34 formed in the upper surface of the blade sea't'in guiding the magazine and razor into blade delivering and receiving position.

The side walls 4| and 42 are'provided at each end with notches 4B and extend somewhat beyond the ends of the top 40. The flanges 43 and 44 also extend. beyond the body of the magazine and'at one end constitute an external shelf for holding the transversely extending heads of the spacers. The top 40 is turned down'at its ends to form spaced transverse wall sections or stops 49 and 5|], which constitute the end walls of the magazine- At the forward end of the magazine At the rear end of the cap are provided downwardly-extending arms 4 these transverse stops are separated from the bottom flanges 43 and 44 sufiiciently to provide a blade exit slot. At the rear end of the magazine, they contact with the flanges 43 and 44. At both ends of the magazine, they are spaced apart to receive the elongated unsharpened end portions 36 of the blades stacked in the magazine,

that is to say, the spacin g o'f the transverse stops 49 and 50 provide openings that equal the width of the blade ends 36. This space also equals the width of the body of the spacers 52. The blades and spacers are arranged as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4 in alternation with a spacer 52 initially at the bottom of the stack underlying the lowermostblade 53. 7

Within the magazine is located an H-shaped spring 5|. The crossbar of the spring is spotwelded or otherwise attached to the inner face of the top of the magazine, and it is downwardly concave so that normally it presses the stack'of alternate blades and spacers downwardly, holding the lowermost spacer 52 or the lowermost blade 35, as the case may be, in contact with the inturned flanges 43 and 44 which form the bottom of the magazine.

The shape of the spacers is best shown in Fig. 6. Each of these has an elongated rectangular body 52 provided at one end with a transversely or laterally extending head 53, giving the spacer as a whole an approximately T-shaped outline. The body 52 of the spacer isprovided with an internal medial slot 54 which providesa shoulder at an intermediate point in the length of the spacer. The spacer is also provided with a slot 55 open through its end.

The magazine is [loaded preferably by the manufacturer withalternate blades and spacers which are positioned therein by the end stops 49 and to which reference has already been made. When it is desired 'to deliver a blade from the magazine to the razor, the exit slot end of the magazine is presented to the razor with the shelf at the-forward end of the magazine registering with the rear end of the cap 22. As the magazine is now advanced, the guide ribs 46 and 4'! of the magazine enter and follow the guide grooves 33 and 34 of the blade seat. The slot in the advancing end of the spacer 52 which is resting upon the inturned flanges 43 and 44 of the magazine permits the magazine to be advanced for the length of this slot without displacing the spacer. However, when the inner edge of the slot 55 reaches the front end of the rib ll, the spacer is immediately arrested and is ejected from the rear end opening of the magazine as the magazine continues to advance. This is the condition of the magazine and razor shown in Fig. 3. In this figure, the spacer 52 is shown as engaged by the front end of the rib l1 and as having been partially ejected by the continued movement to the left of the magazine. This movement continues until the cap 22 is fully displaced from the blade seat of the razor and until further movement of the cap is arrested by the stop nuts 30 and 3|, contacting with the shoulders 20' and 2| at the rear ends of the bores 2|] and 2|. When this occurs, the lowermost spacer has been fully ejected and the blade 35 which has up to that-time been next above it is now forced by the spring 5| down upon the inturned flanges 43- and 44 of the magazine as shown in Fig. 4. This movement of the blade brings the inner end of the blade slot 31 into registration with the inner end of the rib ll of the guard member I2. Accordingly, when the magazine is now retracted and moved toward the right, the lowermost blade is held inplace and is drawn out of the magazine through the blade slot and deposited upon the blade seat. The magazine is, of course, immediately followed up -by the cap 22 of the razor either under the actuation of the spring 19 or by the manipulation of the user. In either case, the cap .22 immediately follows up the fresh blade, fiexing it over the convex face of the blade seat and clamping it securely in position for shaving. The delivery of the blade in this manner of course exposes the next spacer 52 of "the series so that when the magazine has been fully removed the opening in the bottom'o'f the magazine has been closed and the lowermost blade covered by the spacer thus brought into position. After 'theshaving operation, the cap may be displaced by hand and the used blade discarded thus leaving the razor and magazine .in condition for a new cycle ofgoperaltions.

Having thus disclosed my invention and .described in detail illustrative embodiments thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A blade magazine comprising walls providing an elongated enclosure with spaced transverse stops at both ends, a series of blades shouldered at both ends and fitting between said transverse stops, and spacers inserted between consecutive blades of the series and having enlarged outer ends by which they are held against inward movement by engagement with the stops at one end of said enclosure and which thus provide means by which the user may grasp and remove them from the enclosure.

2. A blade magazine comprising walls providing an elongated enclosure having spaced stops at both ends, a series of blades shouldered at both ends, fitting between said stops and held positively thereby from outward movement in either direction, and a series of T-shaped spacers fitting between the stops at one end of the enclosure and held positively thereby from inward movement.

3. A blade magazine comprising walls provid ing an elongated enclosure with a blade exit slot at one end, a stack of blades retained within the enclosure, shouldered spacers alternating with said blades, the shoulders of the spacers holding them against inward movement toward the exit slot by engaging the Wall at the other end of the enclosure while the spacers are free at all times for lengthwise movement in the opposite direction.

4. A blade magazine comprising bottom and end walls defining an exit slot at one end and a rear end opening at the other, a stack of shouldered blades confined by said end walls, and a series of spacers alternating with said blades, each spacer having an outer end portion wider than said rear end opening and a longitudinal slot providing a shoulder in the bodyof the spacer at an intermediate point in its length by which the spacer may be engaged and partially ejected from the magazine.

5. A blade magazine having walls providing an elongated enclosure with spaced end walls defining an exit slot at one end and an open space at the other, shouldered blades fittingbetween said walls and held by them against lengthwise movement, and a series of spacers alternating with said blades, each spacer having a body of less width than the width of said open space between said end walls and a lateral projection making the end walls dey'ers within the enclosure, both the bladesand spacers being slotted and having their slots expesed through the said longitudinal opening whereby they may be engaged and held while the magazine as a'yv'hole ismoved to deliver them.

- 71A blade magazine comprising an enclosure with a bottom having a longitudinal opening therein, an external shelf at one'end of the enclosure adjacent the bottom of the magazine, and spaced transverse end walls adjacent tothe shelf, a series of shouldered blades fitting the space between said end walls, and an alternate series of spacers also fitting the same space and having laterally extending heads at their outerends-supported successively upon the said shelf outside =the' 'end-w'alls.

- '8. A safety razor' and blade magazine combination in'which the razor-has a blade seat with an upstanding rib thereon and guiding means on the'razor in fixed relation to said rib, and the magazine comprises an enclosure with an open bottom, guiding means co-operating with those of the razor, and a stack of blades and spacers within the enclosure, a spacer being exposed through the open bottom of the enclosure and having a slot providing a shoulder which contacts with said upstanding rib when the magazine is moved under control of the guiding means of the razor thereby displacing the spacer by endwise movement.

9. A safety razor and blade magazine combination in which the razor has a blade seat Dresenting parallel guideways and an intermediate upstanding rib, and the magazine has an elongated enclosure with an open bottom and guide elements cooperating with said guideways, a stack of slotted blades within the enclosure and an unsharpened plate covering the opening in the bottom of the magazine and the blades above it, the rib of the razor being shaped to engage said plate and hold it when the magazine is advanced along the guideways of the razor and thus displacing the plate and exposing the lowermost blade for engagement by the said rib.

10. A safety razor and blade magazine combi nation in which the razor has movably connected cap and guard members for relative longitudinal movement, spring means tending at all times to hold them in superposed registration, and a longitudinal guiding element on one of said members, and the magazine has a corresponding guiding element directing the magazine in endwise movement with respect to the razor so that the cap is displaced longitudinally against spring pressure to uncover the guard member.

11. A safety razor and. blade magazine combination in which the razor has cap and guard members normally superposed and connected for divergent longitudinal movement and spring I means tending at all times to hold them in superposed blade-clamping relation, the magazine has a cover normally covering a blade therein, and both the guard member and the magazine have co-operating guiding elements directing the magazine in endwise movement with respect to the guard member whereby the cap may be moved to an inoperative position, the cover displaced and the said blade thus uncovered in one continuous movement of the magazine.v

12.A safety razor and blade magazine combination in which the razor has cap and guard members movably connected for longitudinal movement,-one with respect to the other, and the magazine contains alternate blades and unsharp- 'enecl spacers movable out of the magazine in opposite directions, co-operating guiding means in the razor and in the magazine, means in the razor for engaging and ejecting the lowermost spacer when the magazine is moved in one direction to displace the cap on the guard, and means in the razor for subsequently engaging and withdrawing the lowermost blade when the magazine is moved in the opposite direction.

, 13. A safety razor and blade magazine combination comprising a razor having cap and guard members movably connected for separation in a longitudinal direction, and a blade-locating rib J projecting from the guard member, and a magazine having an enclosure with a longitudinally slotted bottom, an open end slotted plate closing the said bottom, a stack of slotted blades within said enclosure, concealed by said plate, and means for guiding the magazine for movement in a longitudinal path with respect to the razor in 8 which the rib of the razor displaces said plate. exposing the lowermost blade in the magazine with its slot in position to receive the rib of the razor.

NICHOLAS TESTI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,899,979 Noyes Mar. 7, 1933 1,906,631 Lambert May 2, 1933 15 1,911,627 Lashar May 30, 1933 2,014,977 Muros Sept. 17, 1935 2,128,258 Monnet Aug. 30, 1938 2,200,530 Benjamin May 14, 1940 2,305,600 Benjamin Dec. 22, 1942 21) 2,326,202 Bryan Aug. 10, 1943 2,330,252 Testi Sept. 28, 1943 2,357,208 Kuhnl Aug. 29, 1944 2,363,908 Stampleman Nov. 28, 1944 I, FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 686,903 France Apr. 22, 1930 

